Top Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is known to make the rounds in Boston.

He's an avid fan of the Bruins, Red Sox, and Celtics, regularly making his way to games and chumming it up with his peers.

But yesterday, after driving the pace car at NASCAR's Camping World RV Sales 301 Sprint Cup race in Loudon, N.H., we can mark Edelman down as a motor head, as well.

"After coming here today and seeing this and the excitement and energy of the crowd and the people, it’s pretty insane,” Edelman told the Boston Globe. “It was a fun experience, but I’ll definitely be watching a lot more now, because I’m vested.”

Edelman noted that he now holds a newfound respect for NASCAR athletes after getting an opportunity to whiz around the track at 90 to 100 miles per hour.

"I pretty much told myself that these dudes are certifiably crazy to be going that fast on that little ring – they’re studs," he said.